Domo spacecraft, medical cabin.
Ikaris Open your eyes.
The dazzling white light made him squint his eyes subconsciously, followed by a tearing feeling all over his body, and every inch of muscle fiber was wailing.
The last frame of memory is the huge amount of energy released by that man's face, and the terrifying explosion that penetrated the entire atmosphere.
Sersi!
He sat up suddenly, touching the injury, and the severe pain made him groan.
"Hey, hey! You haven't recovered yet."
A familiar voice sounded next to him, and Phastos pressed his shoulders to prevent him from making any further movements.
Ikaris was a little surprised. He saw clearly that the person in front of him was a teammate he had not contacted for hundreds of years.
But he didn't care about reminiscing about old times, grabbed Phastos's arm, and asked eagerly, "Where is Sersi? That man took them away?"
"I know, I know, calm down first." Phastos tried to comfort him, but Ikaris's power far exceeded him. Even if he was seriously injured, he could not hold him down easily.
"I'm going to save her!" Ikaris struggled to get out of bed, his eyes full of anxiety.
At this moment, a gentle Psychic Power enveloped his mind, soothing the most anxious part of his mood.
Ikaris movement lags.
Druig walked in from the door, his expression as gloomy as ever, but there was a trace of concern in his eyes.
"You rush out now because you want to be beaten up by him again?"
Following Druig's voice, several more people walked in from outside the cabin door.
The leader was the burly Gilgamesh, followed by the cool-tempered Thena, and a lithe girl who was looking at him with bright eyes.
Makkari.
"Don't be impatient." Gilgamesh spoke, his voice as honest and steady as ever, "It has been a few days. We also wanted to rescue Sersi, but even you were defeated by that mysterious man. We need to take a long-term approach."
Ikaris's body finally relaxed, and he leaned back on the medical bed, breathing rapidly.
He lost, he lost completely.
"Who saved me?" he asked.
Makkari raised his hand and started making signs in sign language.
She first pointed at herself, then upward, and crossed her hands quickly, indicating that she was detecting large-scale energy fluctuations. Then she spread her arms, her body fell downwards, and then pointed at Ikaris, making a pick-up motion.
After seven thousand years of living together, no one needs a translator.
"She has been staying on Domo." Druig said, "After the spacecraft discovered energy fluctuations, she rushed to the scene. At that time, both you and the other party fell from high altitude. After she brought you to a safe location, she wanted to turn back and save Sersi and Sprite."
Druig paused, his expression became a little solemn.
"But she noticed that the man had begun to absorb the remaining energy around him to restore himself. The speed was amazing. She was not sure, so she had to evacuate with you first, and then notified all of us."
Ikaris was silent.
He has personally experienced the terrifying resilience, and Makkari's choice was the right one.
"Why did he attack Sersi?" Thena asked in a cold voice. Energy light flashed subconsciously in her hand, condensing into the outline of a dagger.
Gilgamesh gently held her wrist, and the energy light dissipated.
"I don't know." Ikaris shook his head, recalling the scene at that time, "I just noticed that he wanted to do something to Sersi, so I rushed over to stop him."
"You didn't communicate before the fight?" Phastos asked.
"No."
Ikaris thought for a while and added, "He has been testing my abilities. It's not like a spur-of-the-moment move, it's more like a target has been chosen in advance."
Druig leaned against the hatch. "We have checked on other people's conditions in the past few days."
Ikaris looked at him. "Where is Ajak?"
"Didn't she come? With her treatment, I should be able to recover faster."
Upon hearing this name, everyone's expressions darkened.
"Ajak also disappeared." Druig's voice was very low, "Makkari went to see South Dakota's farm, but no one was there. Except for Kingo who was filming a movie in Bollywood, almost all of us who have integrated into human society were attacked by him, except Kingo."
"No." Druig changed the topic, "Kingo may have encountered him before."
He looked at Ikaris and explained, "When Makkari took me to find Kingo, I tried to call him in my mind with Mental Power, but I found a strange Mental Power imprint hovering in the outer layer of his consciousness. It is very hidden and very powerful."
"I wasn't sure I could communicate with him without disturbing the mark. In the end, I could only control an ordinary person and tell him to come and join us as soon as possible."
Ikaris's heart sank.
Ajak was also kidnapped?
What on earth does that man want to do?
A terrible thought flashed through his mind.
Could it be that... he knows the secret of "Emergence"?
Regarding the truth that the newly born god Tiamut will tear apart the earth and destroy mankind, only he and the leader Ajak among Eternals know.
This secret must not be exposed, at least not now.
Ikaris calmly guided the topic. "It seems that he is attacking us with purpose. Could it be... that he is related to those Deviantss that we sealed thousands of years ago?"
This is a reasonable enough guess.
He could not confirm whether Lucian had obtained the truth from Ajak, let alone let others know that Emergence's secret might have been touched by outsiders.
Over the years, Eternals not everyone is willing to watch humans die. Ikaris knows this very well. Sersi, Phastos, Gilgamesh, they will all hesitate.
And hesitation will make the mission out of control.
Gilgamesh said, "Don't rush to characterize him yet. After you recover, we will go find out together."
"I have found some traces of him." Phastos, who had been silent all this time, said. He brought up a virtual screen, which showed the picture of Battle of New York, with Lucian's figure prominently on the list.
"He appeared in New York, fought side by side with people from Avengers, and seems to have a good relationship. We know too little about him."
Gilgamesh answered, "So, before you recover, we'd better not act alone, so as not to be defeated one by one by him. When Kingo arrives, we can act together."
"My body..." Ikaris still wants to fight for it.
"Very bad." Phastos interrupted him directly, pointing at the complex data flow on the screen of the medical cabin.
"The move that hit you left a large amount of unknown energy similar to radiation but with a higher energy level in your body. They are continuing to eat away at your cells and weaken your self-healing ability. Otherwise, given your physique, you will recover faster."
"You need to rest for at least half a month." Phastos concluded.
Ikaris looked at his palm.
Half a month.
Sersi is in the hands of the enemy, and Ajak has also disappeared. The person named Lucian has taken the initiative. Every time he rests for one more day, the situation will change one more layer.
But now he can't even stand still.
"Half a month is too long."
"Then lie down for a month." Phastos said, "You can choose."
Makkari made a gesture of approval from the side.
Ikaris looked at her. "Do you even think so?"
Makkari nodded seriously, then pointed at his chest and made a sleeping gesture.
Druig translation. "She said you are like an old machine that is leaking energy. It is best not to run around."
Phastos added, "Her original words were not that polite."
Gilgamesh reached out and patted Ikaris on the back.
"Recuperate first."
Ikaris finally nodded and lay down again.
He closed his eyes, but his mind couldn't calm down.
Sersi was taken away and his life or death is uncertain.
Ajak also disappeared, probably in the hands of that man.
Does he know the secret of "Emergence"?
Did he capture Ajak to stop "Emergence", or did he want to get a way to communicate with the gods from her?
Countless questions and worries surrounded him.
Ikaris felt for the first time that things were leaving him and out of the control of God Arishem.